WWYD

Re: WWYD

• fitmom82 member

  March 2014

  so your child doesn't go anywhere other than daycare and everyone in your house is completely sterilized?  You need to realize that kids get sick.  They get sick from other kids, adults, public areas, family members, many places other than daycare, although of course they can get sick from daycare too.

  
  

  If my kid was like yours sounds I would give them some Morton and send them to daycare.  They can't stay home for every little thing and I don't consider 99 a fever.  You may want to look into a nanny though, it doesn't sound like you're going to have the patience to be a daycare mom

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• teacupkat member

  March 2014

  fitmom82 said:

  You may want to look into a nanny though, it doesn't sound like you're going to have the patience to be a daycare mom

  I do realize kids get sick. I know it is inevitable at a daycare. I even stated that. My question was if it's just a cold, do I send her anyway or not. I wouldn't go to work with a cold and a fever to avoid getting my coworkers sick. I would be considerate of their need to work. I know some people suck up colds and go to work and I am assuming sometimes sending a child to daycare with a cold is also probably going to happen due to lack of other means.
  I find it interesting that you interpreted my question as my inability to be a daycare mom. I'm new to the whole mom thing, so I don't know what is acceptable for sending a child to daycare. I don't want to anger her caregivers by sending her sick and then they call me at work to come get her. I work a hour away and my DH would not be able to pick her up. I'm asking for advice to avoid; 1. Sending a sick child to not get other children sick and 2. Avoid going to work and then needing to rush back to pick her up when I would rather just stay home with her.
  I am curious if by sending her will the daycare just accept the fact she has a cold. I think this is my main concern.
  

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• teacupkat member

  March 2014

  CTGirl30 said:

  If there's a chance that is pink eye, please DO NOT send her, as that is highly contagious.
  

  Oh I would NEVER do that, trust me. I do not want to get other kids sick. Ever. Her eye is not pink though, but I will be making sure it doesn't progress in that direction.

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• teacupkat member

  March 2014

  casey78 said:

  If the fever and crusty eyes have cleared and there were just some sniffles left, Id probably send her. We go for months with a bit of a stuffy nose.

  This answers my question. If she only has the sniffles, I was wondering if it would be ok to send. No fever, just a little stuffy. A fever, no way. She would stay home. I am just not sure if sniffles are acceptable.
  
  And FTR, I took her temp again and it was 98.5, but I will be sure to keep an eye on it.
  

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• *sparky* member

  March 2014

  I would see how she is feeling tomorrow before making the call. It sounds at this point like a minor cold, but I would closely monitor the eye for signs of pink eye. My DS's eyes used to sometimes get crusty from congestion and that could be all it is. If it is pink you obviously have to keep her home.
  
  As far as the PP who suggested you may not be cut out to be a DC mom, I think that came from your comment about being irrationally angry that someone sent their kid in to DC and got your kid sick. It is likely someone had the same debate you are having now and ended up sending their LO in because there was no fever, etc. which is a perfectly logical decision. Also your LO could have picked that up anywhere. And with colds and other viruses, people are often contagious before they even know they are sick.
  
  Now when my DS was in DC there was a mom who would send her LO in when he was obviously sick and she actually got caught putting Tylenol in his bottles to mask a fever - that is something to be upset about!
  
  Anyway it stinks having your LO under he weather but it is unfortunately something they all will go through so you just have to figure out how to best get through if.
  

   

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• fitmom82 member

  March 2014

  well again just to answer your question, I would send her.  My kids' eyes get crusty all the time, its from colds and allergies, unless they're very red I know it's not pink eye.  I just don't think it's fair that you're blaming daycare or another parent.  Kids get sick.  As nice as it is to stay in and cuddle in bed when you're not feeling 100%, its just not an option and kids will go to daycare with colds.  I have 2 kids, but I'm also lucky enough to have DH and 4 grandparents willing to help in the area, imagine people who don't have family around, have several kids, or may be a single parent, they'd be out of work a few times a week if they kept the kids home for every cold.

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• shannm member

  March 2014

  If I kept my dd home every time she had a runny nose, we would have been home for the last month.
  Use a fever as your guide or if your LO is particularly lethargic or uncomfortable.

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• djm31012 member

  March 2014

  Go by how she is acting. If ds has a stuffy or running nose I send him. If he's irritable or groggy or not himself I know he's not feeling well and I keep him home . I do consider 99 a fever but a lot of times with one dose of Advil it's gone and doesn't come back and he's fine . You know your baby. If she's acting sick keep her home -- and good call about pink eye / conjunctivitis make sure it's not that !
  
  Love when people say u aren't cut out to be a daycare mom bc you are looking out for the well being of your child and others . Comical

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• teacupkat member

  March 2014

  Hmm, I should have chosen a different way to word that, because I did not mean "irrationally" as in "zomg so angry", I was poking fun at my self. I meant I was being stupid for being angry/upset as I know she will get sick being around other kids, being out and about, etc. I didn't mean for it to sound blameful. I know that sometimes there aren't other options for working parents/working moms to NOT send their child to daycare sometimes. I was merely curious if it is reasonable to send her to daycare if she is just carrying a cold, no fever, no other symptoms( I know the crusty eye could be something else)
  I will and I should speak with the director about the sick policy. We briefly touched on it when we signed up. All that was really mentioned were fevers.

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• SunAndRain member

  March 2014

  I feel it is important to reiterate what PP said: kids are often contagious before they shows signs of illness.

  So it doesn't matter if your the mom who keeps LO home at the first sign of a sniffle or the mom who loads 99.5 degree LO up on Motrin in the morning before dropping then at DC and hopes for the best and that the call doesn't come.  (I'll freely admit, I've been both!)  Contagious illnesses at DC are inevitable.  (And oh, so, exhausting the first year!)

  Pink eye in my experience has a fairly rapid onset.  It is not just crusty eyes.  It is when they are goopy, you wipe away the goop, and the goop comes right back...wash, rinse, repeat.

  First and foremost I follow daycare's policies.  Beyond that I follow my instincts.  Now I know that DD is a tough little bugger and even with walking pneumonia is a happy little camper.  So after that little episode I kept her home when she didn't have a fever but was less happy and hungry than usual, made an appointment with the pedi and wouldn't you know she was put on antibiotics after all (sinus infection)!

  It gets easier...

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• jf198400 member

  March 2014

  Sick = 101, no fever they go to school. I know you're upset but honestly this is part of life. Kids will get sick when they are with other kids.

  
  
  
  
  

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• FemShep member

  March 2014

  I was sick, literally, the entire month of January. I envy you if your workplace allows you to take off enough time that you *never* go to work with a cold.
  
  And unfortunately, colds happen, especially when children are exposed to lots of germs (either at daycare or the first time they attend school). We followed our center's guidelines (no fever over 100, no vomiting for 24 hours, etc), but never kept her home for just a stuffy nose. With both our girls, they pretty much had a stuffy/crusty nose for their entire first winter at daycare. The good news is that their immunity develops very quickly, and both of them are almost never sick now (although Mommy and Daddy get knocked on our butts).

  

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• jnnfrrose6 member

  March 2014

  The fever (at that temp) and cold wouldn't keep me from sending DS to DC. The crusty eye would have me putting in a call to the pediatrician. First time DS had crusty eye the nurse's line had me come in and they determine he had an ear infection. The second time I was told they don't have kids come in for suspected pink eye if there is a known case at the DC (there was) and they just sent in a Rx for DS. The first time was before his 1st bday so that probably made a difference too.

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• ASmallWonder member

  March 2014

  Unless a parent has the luxury of unlimited sick days, most of us send our kids unless they meet the criteria of the daycare that they aren't allowed there.  My kids have had what we affectionately call "kennel cough" and a general cold since, literally September.  

  
  

  If your kid doesn't have what daycare calls a fever and you don't think she has pink eye, I'd send her.

  Formerly known as elmoali

  
  

  
  

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• leah2b member

  March 2014

  It sounds like 99 is a higher temp for your kid.  Which means her body is still I the process of fighting something off.  While I understand that many people would send their kid, I would not.  It may not be breaking 100, but it is an elevated temp and the likelihood is that she is contagious.

  So if you send your kid to daycare with a temp and an obvious cold, then you can't really be upset with other parents that do it.

  I must admit, I still get pretty annoyed when I go to my daughter's daycare and I see a kid that is obviously sick and I hear the parent telling the teacher, "oh, he had a fever last night, but its much better today".  ARGH!

  
  

  
  

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• SunAndRain member

  March 2014

  One other thought, from one new mom to another. I, too, used to stay home with every one of my upper respiratory illnesses.  I got sick once, maybe twice per year, so it was doable. BUT, when DD started daycare she brought home every illness, which I then picked up from her as my immune system apparently was not up to speed on the daycare antibodies.  I was literally sick every other week the entire cold/flu season.  So I literally HAD to go to work feeling like crap and probably spreading my germs. 

  So just a very friendly and empathic heads up: even if your immune system is a rock solid as mine, daycare germs are a whole new ballgame.  Between staying home with LO while they are sick, and staying home while YOU are just too sick, there will likely come a time when you have to become THAT coworker who goes to work while sick too. Or maybe you can take leave without pay or maybe risk losing your job.  Or maybe you are just lucky and have unlimited number of sick days (which I technically do but really, I have to do my job at some point if I want to stay employed).

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